title: The therapeutic advantages of a balanced nutritional support system.
abstract: Twenty-two critically ill patients were entered into a 21-day prospective study to evaluate the feasibility of relying on a balanced nutritional support system to satisfy the needs of a diverse group of surgical patients. No patient sustained a serious complication related to glucose metabolism, and only two patients required insulin. Twenty-one of the patients achieved positive nitrogen balance during the study, and 13 had a significant weight gain not related to water retention. Documented sepsis was present in 50% of the patients but in spite of this, 91% had a successful course of therapy. The ease of management and metabolic efficiency of this approach encourages the use of fat as a primary energy substrate in a balanced nutritional support system to restore positive energy and nitrogen balance.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D010288:Parenteral Nutrition / Q000379:methods*; D010289:Parenteral Nutrition, Total / Q000379:methods*; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D005947:Glucose; D009584:Nitrogen